Liquid Courage
by Melissa Treglia
Summary: "It was time for a change; she needed a change." Bella decides to take control of her life, starting with a bottle of hair dye. Day Eight of my personal challenge 30 Days of Fandom.


Ok, so after a false start back in July, my 30 Days of Fandom challenge is FINALLY back on!

So, it turns out the folks that wrote the "30 Days of Inspiration" PDF mis-numbered the prompts, so it'll be 32 prompts rather than just 30. Lucky me. Hopefully, though, that means I'll finally get the hang of writing a little something every day. After all, it takes just 21 days to make something a habit.

In regards to the prompt below: I googled "Kristen Stewart blonde" a long while back, and eventually got the pic I uploaded as this fic's "cover" (a photo from 2011, which has been sitting on my HDD since December 2013). There's a reason I like this pic: She actually seems happy there, doesn't she? And, IMHO, the long blonde hair suits her face, softening her jaw and flattering her delicate complexion. The brown/black hair she normally sports (thanks to her days in the _Twilight_ films and _Snow White and the Huntsman_ ) makes her look too angular and almost sickly by comparison.

She really is a pretty girl—and the blonde looks good on her. Here's hoping that she'll use that shade more often in the future.

So, thanks to that photo, I decided to write a _Twilight_ spitefic where, after Edward dumps Bella in New Moon, Bella actually TRIES to make things better instead of wallowing in self-pity and pulling dangerous stunts so she can hallucinate Edward's voice.

It all starts with a simple bottle of hair dye.

 **Day 8—2/1/16:** " _Go to , and click on the Image link on the top left. This will take you to the image search page. Type two words into the search box, and click on the Search button. A bunch of pictures will appear. Choose one of them to use as a writing prompt."_

* * *

 **Liquid Courage**

by Melissa Treglia

Bella stared at the bottle of hair dye, almost as if it were going to attack her. Her lanky brunette curls could use some extra TLC, but she found herself second-guessing the move to snatch the blonde hair dye from the beauty aisle of the grocery store.

Yes, she had envied Rosalie's long tawny locks, and wanted to be blonde rather than the boring mousey brunette she'd always been. But would it look decent on her, at least? Or would it wash out her already-pale complexion?

She tried not to think of the event that had spawned this notion, but it came forth anyway—she could all too easily imagine Edward's disapproving look at her musing about changing her hair color, and is dry and patronizing response that her fragile little human self was perfect the way it was.

 _Yeah, right,_ she thought savagely. _I was so perfect, he dumped me and left me to fend for myself in the middle of the woods, where Victoria could find me._

She couldn't remember feeling so strongly in some time. His cruel, callous words had been like the shock of cold water on a slumbering person's face. She felt like she'd been sleeping for nearly a year... before she'd even left Arizona.

It was time for a change; she **needed** a change. And this would be a change that could be fixed in a few weeks, if it didn't pan out. "Come on, Bella," she told herself aloud. "It's only hair. You don't need to be a drama queen about it."

She nodded to her reflection in the mirror. It was decided. Putting on the clear plastic gloves as if she were about to perform surgery, she read the directions and mixed the dye with the setting cream. As she closed the bottle back up and shook the contents together, she idly wondered if just the color would do, or whether she should make any other alterations...

* * *

Rinsing the excess chemicals out of her hair after the required time was strangely soothing. She took her time, focusing on being thorough, while also massaging her scalp. She began to feel better already—like the girl she had been before Renee had remarried.

There was probably a host of psychological issues concealed in that realization, but she would save it for another day. Right now was about doing something for herself, purely on a whim and for her own pleasure. This was something for her alone—not because Edward insisted.

Seven months was seven months too long for him to have taken over her life. Was that how, as a vampire, he had drained her? Instead of taking her blood, he took her time and willpower?

 _It's time to find out who you really are, Bella._

* * *

Seeing the results in the mirror was so much better than she had anticipated. The shade of blonde she had selected flattered her porcelain skin, and gave her a boost of lively colour in her appearance. It looked **fantastic.**

She felt her her mouth twitch and realized, when she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, that she was smiling. _I look good,_ she thought in surprised wonder and ran her hand through the newly-blonde strands.

Well, okay. So there were split ends. But the bit of raggedness at the ends could be easily fixed.

Rooting around in the medicine cabinet, she finally located the scissors she used for her hair and began to snip.

* * *

Now her hair was still long, reaching a few inches past her shoulders, but much shorter now than the impractical backside-length it had been before. She smiled. _Perfect._

The hair that had been cut now lay in the bathroom trash bin like a dead rodent, the weight of it finally gone from her thin shoulders.

* * *

" _ **Bella! What in the world did you do to your hair?!"**_ Alice screeched over the phone.

"I dyed and cut it," she replied cooly. "And why do you care what I do now? Your entire family left Forks, left me, on Edward's say-so."

Alice sighed. "Edward wants to talk to you."

Bella snorted. "Oh, he does, does he?" She then echoed Alice sigh, but with more resignation. "Go ahead and put him on."

"Bella." His dry, supercilious tone oozed into her ears. "Why would you change your hair, love? I told you not to do anything foolish. Blonde doesn't suit you."

"How would **you** know? You haven't been here in four months. A lot can happen to a girl in four months. Besides, **you** were the one who dumped me, and **you** wanted me to forget about you and live a normal life. Well, guess what? Normal girls dye their hair sometimes."

"Bella..."

"Stop. Just stop, Edward." She then added with a growl, "I'm trying to get over the **jerk** who dumped me, and my plans don't include you!"

There was a pregnant pause, broken only by the hum of the landline.

"Don't call me again, Edward. I'm not interested in anything you have to say."

"Victoria's still out there; you're not safe as long as she's alive."

Bella chuckled humourlessly. "Well, you should have thought of that before you left me in the woods alone!" She gave a sarcastic snort, then added, "Don't worry, though. The wolf pack is patrolling the woods; they'll keep me and everybody else in Forks safe."

"Bella, wolves are not the best company to keep..."

"Says the guy whose pickup lines included how much he wanted to kill me," she snapped. "I'll be **fine**. In fact, I'll be fantastic without you."

"What has gotten into you?" His tone was outright scolding now.

"Nothing except the common sense I had taken sabbatical from when I was dating you. Goodbye, Edward. **Don't** contact me again, or I'll have Jake use you for a chew toy." She slammed the phone's handset back down into its cradle, then took a deep steadying breath.

"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" A familiar, cheery voice asked.

Bella gave another, more shaky sigh. "I think I need a hug right now, Jake."

Warm, muscular arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her close. "You never have to ask for those, y'know."

"Jake..."

"I know," he replied patiently. "You need some time to heal after dealing with Mr. Sparkly Pants." He smiled. "Take all the time you need. I'll always be around, whenever and however you need me."

"Jake, I'm sorry I can't go on dates with you right now. I'm just... My head's so messed up right now, I don't want to risk you becoming a rebound boyfriend."

"Hey," Jake soothed. "I get it. With all the craziness that comes with my wolfing up, I'm not gonna be the poster boy of stability either." He grinned his characteristic toothy smile. "If I act like an ass, just smack me upside the head, okay?" He laughed, then added, "Metaphorically. Knowing you, if you did it for real, you'd probably break your hand."

Bella laughed. "I could always sic Leah on you."

Jacob gave a mock groan. "I'm doomed!"

Bella found herself cracking up at Jacob's deliberately melodramatic manner. Her face ached from all the smiling she'd done since she'd hung up the phone.

Things were going to get better, she promised herself. And this was just the beginning.


End file.
